Correspondence

Six isolates recovered from coffee seeds giving off a potato-like flavour were studied. Gene sequencing (rrs and rpoB) showed they belong to the genus Pantoea. By DNA–DNA hybridization, the isolates constituted a genomic species with less than 17 % relatedness to 96 strains representing enterobacterial species. Multilocus sequence analysis (gyrB, rpoB, atpD and infB genes) showed the isolates to represent a discrete species of the genus Pantoea. Nutritional versatility of the novel species was poor. The novel species is proposed as Pantoea coffeiphila sp. nov. and its type strain is Ca04T (5CIP 110718T5DSM 28482T). Coffee production is essential to the economy of a number of countries. Coffee drinking is mostly a pleasure due to its flavour (determined by taste and smell) and the alteration of its flavour can ruin coffee commercialization (Franca et al., 2005). Among bad flavours that can affect coffee, a musty, peasy (like fresh green peas) or potato-like flavour has been found to occasionally alter coffee originating from the Great Lakes Region of Africa, mainly Rwanda an